Google DeepMind is entering a new chapter with two major leadership changes at once. Demis Hassabis is stepping back from day-to-day management to become Alphabet's Chief Scientist, while Jeff Dean is leaving Google after 27 years to launch a new AI-focused venture.
The shift puts Koray Kavukcuoglu in charge of daily operations at Google DeepMind and reshapes how Alphabet organizes work around AGI, Gemini, AI research, developer platforms, and scientific discovery.
A broader role for Demis Hassabis
Hassabis is moving out of the operational CEO role at Google DeepMind and into a wider position as Alphabet's Chief Scientist. According to the source article, he said the change will allow him to spend more time on "the big picture."
In a message to employees, Hassabis described the moment as "a pivotal moment in human history." He also said he has spent his life working toward AGI and now believes it is "close at hand." The source also notes that he previously described humanity as "standing in the foothills of the singularity."
His new role does not remove him from Google DeepMind's direction. Hassabis will keep working with Google CEO Sundar Pichai on "strategic and global AGI matters" and will continue advising DeepMind teams.
He will remain based at the company's London headquarters. He will also spend more time on Isomorphic Labs, Alphabet's AI drug discovery subsidiary. Hassabis has said that "the No. 1 application of AI should be to improve human health."
Koray Kavukcuoglu takes daily control
Koray Kavukcuoglu will now lead day-to-day management at Google DeepMind. He previously served as DeepMind's chief technology officer and Google's chief AI architect.
As senior vice president of Google DeepMind, Kavukcuoglu will report directly to Pichai. His remit includes Gemini model development, frontier AI research, the Gemini app, and Google's AI developer platforms.
The appointment keeps operational control with a long-serving DeepMind figure. Kavukcuoglu joined DeepMind in its early days and has worked with Hassabis for more than 13 years.
Pichai said Kavukcuoglu built DeepMind's deep learning team and contributed to breakthroughs including WaveNet and DQN. Hassabis said he has "total confidence" in Kavukcuoglu and the rest of the leadership team.
Jeff Dean leaves to build Discovery Loop
The second major change is Jeff Dean's departure. Dean, described in the source as one of the most influential engineers in Google's history, is leaving after 27 years at the company.
Dean is joining Google Senior Fellow Sanjay Ghemawat to start Discovery Loop. The new company is a public benefit corporation focused on automating machine learning, science, and engineering in order to speed up scientific discovery.
Discovery Loop will begin with large-scale machine learning experiments. Over time, the founders plan to apply that approach across a wider range of scientific and engineering fields.
The company brings together several longtime Google AI researchers. Alongside Dean and Ghemawat, the other co-founders are Oriol Vinyals and Quoc Le. Dean said the four founders have worked together for periods ranging from 14 to 30 years.
The source notes that Dean and Ghemawat helped build Google's early search infrastructure and later worked on neural networks that Pichai said "helped create the modern AI era."
Funding, Alphabet links, and competitive pressure
Discovery Loop is not cutting all ties with Alphabet. Radical Ventures and Khosla Ventures are leading the seed round, with backing from Lightspeed, Kleiner Perkins, Doerr Capital, and Alphabet. The round is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Alphabet will remain involved as Discovery Loop's cloud partner. It also plans to work with the startup on a research framework for machine learning systems and infrastructure.
The timing matters because Google is under pressure in AI. The source article says this is especially true in coding, where Google's best models have fallen behind those from OpenAI and Anthropic.
Google is counting on Gemini 4, described as a "much larger" foundation model now in training, to help close that gap. The company has not announced a release date.
What changes for Google DeepMind
The leadership reset separates several responsibilities that had been closely associated with a small group of senior figures. Hassabis moves toward Alphabet-wide scientific and AGI strategy. Kavukcuoglu takes on direct operational control of Google DeepMind's core AI work. Dean exits to pursue automated scientific research through a new company.
For Google DeepMind, the immediate test is continuity. Kavukcuoglu inherits Gemini development, frontier AI research, the Gemini app, and developer platforms at a time when Google is trying to stay competitive with OpenAI and Anthropic.
For Alphabet, the structure also keeps Hassabis close to long-term AGI strategy and health-focused AI work through Isomorphic Labs. At the same time, Alphabet remains financially and technically connected to Dean's new venture through backing and a cloud partnership.
The result is not a simple departure story. It is a redistribution of AI leadership across Google DeepMind, Alphabet, Isomorphic Labs, and Discovery Loop, with AGI strategy, Gemini execution, and automated scientific research now moving through different hands.